Poetry Corner: I Remember Redwoods

‘I Remember Redwoods’
By Tom Gervasi
Slowly unfolding stories
of slow growing time
my brother redwoods
red shaggy gentle giants
to whom we are
but a momentary presence
a split second
in a lifetime of centuries.
I try to slow down
to hear their words
but even stop is too fast
and my ears cannot
hear them speak
only the world
that surrounds them.
Sideways morning sun
lighting and shadowing
soft red stranded bark.
Slow breeze ruffling
broad leaved branches
of spreading young oaks.
Woodpecker jackhammer
digging for breakfast.
Loud Stellar Jays
brash and loud
as any New Yorker
spreading the news:
it’s morning so deal with it.
A Squirrel safecracker,
busting wide open
an acorn unsafe
as it proves to be,
quickly making a getaway
with the goods within.
I take all this in,
as I have many mornings.
I store it away,
a pirate with his chest
the X that always
marks the spot is buried
in a place that few know
and fewer still go.
I cherish my treasure,
for I can no longer
breathe that air.
hear those sounds,
see the waking world
from a soft forest floor.
I was too fast,
and I am gone.
But…
I remember redwoods.
A former Boulder Creek resident, Tom Gervasi lives in Christchurch, New Zealand.